


you're my nightmare repellent (my nightmare fuel)

by harpers_mirror (SapphireBryony)



Series: Sing Me to Sleep [1]
Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, fluff with a side of serious foreshadowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:56:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5973219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireBryony/pseuds/harpers_mirror
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of "Extreme Danger Bug," Hilbert gets a surprise late-night visitor to take his mind off the deception and pain swirling around him. Sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're my nightmare repellent (my nightmare fuel)

**Author's Note:**

> For [RandomDraggon](http://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomDraggon/pseuds/RandomDraggon), who asked for "some fluffy heiffel where eiffel is having nightmares and can't sleep so he wanders into hilbert's lab who's still awake and eiffel falls asleep with his face smushed into his back." 
> 
> Spoilers up through "Happy to Be of Assistance."

Hilbert heard the lights shut off with a _clunk_ around the station and shook his head slightly. Minkowski always insisted that they try and observe normal-length Earth day and night periods, a convention he found rather pointless. If he was in the middle of an experiment, there was no good reason why he should stop and go to sleep, not in this place of endless night.

But it seemed important to her, and also to Eiffel, who was evidently okay with following the commander’s rules if it meant he got to sleep. 

He sighed. It mattered little to him what they did or did not do with their time. They left him alone to work, stayed out of his way, and didn’t ask too many questions. And that suited his purposes just fine. 

Hilbert turned his attention back to his work and lost himself in it once more. The knowledge that at least one of his old specimens had survived unnerved him greatly, but not as much as the fact that Command had knowingly left his old lab intact and on board. Who knew what else might still be alive in there, waiting in the shadows? And so, he’d turned his attention to a better antivenom, one that would be guaranteed to work if, god forbid, they encountered another one of Eiffel’s “extreme danger bugs.” 

The hatch creaked open behind him, the person framed in it seemingly summoned by Hilbert’s thoughts. 

“Hey Doc,” Eiffel said, hovering in the doorway. “Mind if I come in?” 

Hilbert sighed again. So much for them leaving him alone. “What is it Officer Eiffel? I am in the middle of very delicate process…” He trailed off upon seeing the younger man’s face. Though Doug’s voice hadn’t held a trace of it, his face betrayed his upset state. “Are you feeling quite well? No after-effects of the serum?” 

That was evidently enough for Eiffel to consider himself welcome. He shut the door, shrugging. “Nah. I haven’t gained any superpowers, which is frankly kind of a let-down, but other than that everything’s running fine.” He paused, scrubbing a hand over his face and looking sheepish. “I just…couldn’t sleep. Well, I couldn’t sleep _well_. Too many dreams.” 

He said “dreams” but Hilbert heard the subtext: _nightmares_. 

“Ah, yes, well,” he fumbled for words. “You had a trying day. Understandable that you would find it hard to properly slow down after such an ordeal.” Hilbert paused to eye Doug, floating nervous and honestly kind of miserable-looking a few yards away. “Would…would you like to see what I am working on? It might help allay your fears.” 

“Oh yeah?” asked Doug, curiosity obviously piqued despite his mood. He floated closer until he was right behind Hilbert, and went to peer over the scientist’s shoulder. “Whatcha - _HOLY SHIT WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT THING?!”_

The cause of the outburst, Hilbert reflected with dismay, was likely the large, partially-dissected giant spider on the lab table before him. Perhaps, he realized, he should have warned Eiffel first. 

“Eiffel, it is the creature you encountered earlier today, but it is very much dead. Minkowski is very good shot.” He looked at the other man, who was still cringing away from the table, his face showing a mixture of revulsion and fear. “Are you alright?” 

Eiffel gulped and then nodded shakily. “Yeah…” He cleared his throat. “Yeah, Doc. I’m fine. Just didn’t expect to see that thing again. What…what are you doing with it?” 

“Perfecting the antivenom that I used on you this afternoon. In case - “ Hilbert broke off, realizing a rather large flaw in his plan to calm Eiffel. 

And unfortunately, Eiffel picked up on it. “In case what? In case there are more of those monsters hiding out in the ship? In case they’re hanging out in the air vents with your crazy body-snatching plant monster? Thanks, Doc, thanks a lot! Now instead of just _worrying_ that I’ll never sleep again, now I _know_ it for sure! This has been very helpful.” 

Doug turned and headed for the hatch, raking his hands through his hair. 

“Officer Eiffel,” Hilbert called after him, feeling strangely desperate to fix his mistake. “Please. I’m not saying that I think there are more of these creatures. But it is my responsibility as the medical officer of this station to ensure health and safety of the crew to the best of my abilities. And right now, that means poking around inside big dead bugs. I had thought maybe it would make you feel better to see the antivenom being created, so you’d know you were 100% safe. Perhaps I was mistaken.” 

He turned back to his work, annoyed both at himself and at Eiffel. The younger man stayed quiet for a moment, and then - 

“Thanks, Hilbert. I appreciate the thought. And thank you for earlier too, by the way. Without you and Minkowski, I’d have ended up as hors d'oeuvres for Extreme Danger Bug cocktail hour.” 

Hilbert grunted. “Only doing my job, Eiffel.” 

“Well, thanks anyway.” 

Hilbert felt Eiffel float up behind him. “Can…am I still allowed to watch?” 

“Da. But I cannot cover up or move the specimen right now. Will you be alright seeing it?” 

Eiffel took several deep breaths, letting them out slowly in a whoosh of air that tickled the back of Hilbert’s neck and made him shiver. “Yeah, I’m- I’m good.” He floated closer, brushing against Hilbert’s back and apparently settled in to watch. 

It was odd having someone so close while he was trying to work, especially considering the usually solitary nature of his lab. But it was also slightly comforting, that warm, solid weight at his back. Hilbert settled back into his work, occasionally explaining things to Eiffel whenever he could figure out a simple enough way to word things that also wouldn’t let on just how much he knew about this particular specimen. For his part, Eiffel kept remarkably quiet, only speaking up to occasionally respond to one of Hilbert’s explanations. 

Even so, when Hilbert realized that Eiffel had been totally silent for several consecutive minutes - a feat which, before tonight, he wouldn’t have thought the man capable - he turned. 

“Officer Eif - oh.” 

Eiffel was sound asleep, floating behind him. And until Hilbert’s movement had dislodged him, Doug’s head had been resting on the doctor’s shoulder. Hilbert felt a surge of regret that he hadn’t let him sleep there longer, a surge he quickly tamped down. _“No time for any of that, now,”_ he thought with a flash of sadness. 

Sighing, he hooked a hand around the sleeping man’s arm and propelled him back to his quarters. 

After Eiffel was strapped into place, Hilbert indulged himself with a moment’s glance at his face. Reaching out, he gently smoothed the younger man’s wild hair, his thumb tracing Eiffel’s cheek. 

“I am sorry, Douglas,” he whispered. “I will not prevent what is to happen, but I do regret that it must happen to _you_.” Running his fingers slowly down the sleep-slackened face, he rested his thumb gently against the edge of Eiffel’s lips, brushing over them with a feather-light touch. 

“Sleep well while you can,” he murmured before turning and leaving the room.


End file.
